New polling has found that most teenagers covered by UK Government’s planned social media curfew intend to switch off the restrictions, raising questions over whether the voluntary approach can protect young people from online harms.
The survey, conducted by Censuswide on behalf of the Online Responsibility Network, found that 84.6% of 16-to-18-year-olds questioned revealed they would opt out of the proposed overnight curfew once given the ability to change the default setting.
Under the Government’s plan, social media platforms would introduce overnight restrictions for 16 and 17-year-olds by default, limiting access between midnight and 6am. However, the measure is not intended to be compulsory. Teenagers would retain the ability to change their account settings and continue using the affected services during the restricted hours.
The policy forms part of a broader Government effort to reduce the risks associated with social media use among young people, particularly exposure to addictive platform features and content that can contribute to excessive screen time and other online harms.
The Government has also announced plans to switch off certain features by default for 16 and 17-year-olds, including autoplay and personalised feeds. The measures are intended to reduce the design mechanisms that encourage users to remain online for prolonged periods.
However, the latest polling suggests that the effectiveness of the curfew could depend heavily on whether teenagers choose to maintain the restrictions rather than override them.
Of those surveyed, 45.2% indicated that they would turn off the curfew to communicate with friends or family, while another 37.2% indicated they would disable it so they could continue watching online content.
The findings have intensified concerns over whether giving teenagers the ability to bypass the restrictions undermines the central objective of the policy.
Leanne Proctor, Regulatory Lead at the Online Responsibility Network, stated the findings demonstrated that an overnight curfew alone would not provide a comprehensive solution to the risks young people face online.
“There is no single solution to protecting children online.Rather than relying on broad service-level restrictions, greater focus should be placed on design feature-level protections and robust age assurance, helping to ensure young people have age-appropriate experiences without unnecessarily restricting access.”
Leanne Proctor
The Government has defended its decision to make the curfew a default protection rather than an absolute ban, arguing that older teenagers should have greater responsibility and choice as they approach adulthood.
A Government spokesperson indicated that, “young people will have a choice in how they navigate social media as they grow into adulthood.”
“In our national poll, 64% of young people aged 16 to 21 supported restricting children from certain apps at night and our trials found overnight curfews quickly became part of daily routines and helped improve sleep and concentration.
Government spokesperson
He added, “we are providing strong protections by default while giving 16 and 17-year-olds the ability to decide whether those protections fit their circumstances, recognising they are capable of making informed decisions.”
The overnight restrictions, according to official policy documents, are meant to promote safer online experiences without producing what ministers have called a “cliff edge” when kids turn sixteen.
The measures for older teens are part of a broader reorganisation of children’s access to digital platforms, as the government is also exploring curbs on social media use for under-16s.
Evidence that default settings can affect users’ behaviour is also being created in conjunction with the recommendations. The government’s decision to make the measures active by default is supported by recent Ofcom research, which revealed that individuals are more inclined to keep protective settings when they are implemented automatically.
Yet the new polling points to a major challenge: protection can only have its intended effect if users do not immediately remove it.
Critics Demand Stronger Action Against Addictive Social Media Design
The latest development had also prompted criticism from opposition politicians who argue that the Government should focus less on teenagers’ ability to override restrictions and more on the design of social media platforms themselves.
Munira Wilson, the Liberal Democrats’ education spokeswoman, stated the Government should address the underlying factors driving excessive social media use rather than relying primarily on restrictions that young people can remove.
“You wouldn’t give an alcoholic a bottle of wine with a screw cap and call it a preventative measure, so why is this Government doing the digital equivalent for young people online?”
Munira Wilson
Wilson argued that policymakers should introduce stronger incentives for technology companies to change features that encourage prolonged and potentially compulsive use.
“The Liberal Democrats are calling for film-style age ratings, allowing young people to enjoy the best of the online world while giving social media companies a clear incentive to remove addictive design features and harmful content from their platforms. Our message is simple – if your platform is designed to drive addiction, you don’t get access to our children.”
Munira Wilson
Meanwhile, the Government has sought to place greater responsibility on platforms by proposing that certain addictive functions should be disabled automatically for teenagers. The measures include restrictions on features such as autoplay and personalised recommendation feeds, which can encourage continuous scrolling and make it more difficult for users to disengage.
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